Monkey Cage: Will AFRICOMs Ebola response be watershed moment for international action on human security?

By Maryam Zarnegar Deloffre September 29 at 11:00 AM

On Sept. 18, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) held an unprecedented emergency meeting on a public health crisis and officially declared the Ebola epidemic that has killed an estimated 2,803 people in West Africa a threat to international peace and security. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the creation of the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), which he tasked with treating the infected, containing the disease and preserving stability. Last week, President Obama announced the deployment of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), which will set up a joint force command in Liberia to coordinate the activity of 3,000 U.S. forces; expedite the transportation of equipment and supplies; and train an estimated 500 health-care workers per week.

Although Kim Yi Dionne, Laura Seay and Erin McDaniel raised concerns in The Washington Post last week about U.S. military forces engaging in a large-scale humanitarian operation, the deployment of AFRICOM and the creation of UNMEER are different from previous militarized humanitarian missions. The emphasis on human security, supported by the recent UNSC proclamation, shifts the policy conversation. This is a potential watershed moment for future humanitarian interventions if key actors recognize the core comparative advantages of both non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and militaries and work together in a partnership.

What is human security?

We traditionally think about security in terms linked to states. National security means that states defend their borders, people, and economic and political interests against destabilizing threats. According to the U.N. Trust Fund for Human Security, Human security aims at ensuring the survival, livelihood and dignity of people in response to current and emerging threats threats that are widespread and cross cutting. So, whereas we typically think of security threats as a threat to a countrys national interests, human security broadens the notion of security to focus on the individual and thus considers things such as poverty, health pandemics and climate-related disasters as security threats. At the same time, these crises not only challenge individuals and communities, but have the potential to spill over and threaten international peace and security.

Obama invoked human security when urging the UNSC for a commitment to stop a disease that could kill hundreds of thousands, inflict horrific suffering, destabilize economies, and move rapidly across borders. In a speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Obama described the human security threat as an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security . . . its a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the disease.

Why is human security different from humanitarian intervention?

Humanitarian intervention occurs when external state actors intervene militarily in another state to prevent, alleviate or arrest a humanitarian crisis resulting from conflict. In places such as Kosovo, where NATO conducted airstrikes on Serbia and then coordinated the delivery and distribution of relief aid during the subsequent refugee crisis, militarized humanitarian intervention has proved to be problematic. While at first NGOs appreciated the logistical capabilities of the NATO forces, their practices compromised core principles of neutrality (not taking sides in a conflict), impartiality (not discriminating in aid provision) and independence (working free of government interference). Since then, military-led stability operations have increased, but some NGOs have renounced working with military forces to provide humanitarian relief.

The important distinction here is that humanitarian intervention occurs in response to conflict situations, and often external actors intervene only when their national interests are at stake. The failure to respond to warnings regarding the imminent Rwandan genocide is a key example.

The AFRICOM and UNMEER missions are not your typical militarized humanitarian intervention. Defining the Ebola crisis as a human security issue is a game changer. There is no conflict in the West African countries most heavily affected by Ebola (at least not yet), thus the security threat highlighted by the UNSC is a threat to people and their humanity the right to life with dignity. Humanity is a universal principle, one that transcends and orders all the other humanitarian principles, one that NGOs, states and international organizations can all get behind. Viewed through this lens, it is no wonder that NGOs, such as Doctors Without Borders, that typically refuse to work with national militaries are calling on militaries to provide logistical support to address the Ebola epidemic.

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Monkey Cage: Will AFRICOMs Ebola response be watershed moment for international action on human security?